Congratulations
by Strawberry Nightmare
Summary: After a hard day at work, Special Agent Cabe Gallo returns to the office to find that a letter and a package waiting for him. His once would-be assassin Leah Hudson has just completed training and expects a promised date to celebrate. Now Cabe needs to dig deep to get through his first date in several years.


**A/N** : I finished this just in time for the Monday premiere of Season 3! I've found I'm not that good at writing romance, so this was a struggle, but hopefully you all find it cute! I'm working on my next story, so stay tuned for that. Thank you guys!

 **Congratulations**

Scorpion had had quite a rough day. It was one of their better, rough days, but still rough. Par for the course, Special Agent Cabe Gallo had noticed over the past two years with this group.

The group returned to their home base at the end of their hard work day. Cabe followed Walter O'Brien into the garage, ready to grab one last cup of joe before heading home. But a small package and card on the table caught his attention.

"It's for you, Cabe," Walter said, with a hint of bitterness.

Walking up to the table, Cabe understood why the young man wasn't happy. Based on the penmanship, it was from Leah Hudson his would-be assassin and now friend. Even after five months, Walter still didn't like Leah. Cabe could understand why Walter didn't like her, but he wished the young man would try. Cabe wanted Leah in his life, but he wanted Walter in his life too. It wouldn't go well if they kept fighting.

Cabe picked up the card and opened the envelope. The front of the card simply read _Congratulations_. Inside, it read:

 _Hello there Agent Gallo,_

 _I'm pleased to announce that I finished training! That's right; your neighborhood friendly assassin is now a government agent. To celebrate, I think I deserve that dinner you promised me a while back. So come on over and remember to dress nicely. See you soon, partner._

 _Leah_

"Oh, look at that smile!" Paige teased, standing on the other side of the table. "I wonder who the card is from?"

Cabe looked up at her, wanting to shoot her a teasing, dirty look but could only smile. "I'm too old for your teasing, Paige," he joked.

"Is it good news?" she asked eagerly, knowing that Leah had been away at a training camp for the past six weeks.

"It is. She's done and she is officially a government agent," Cabe said.

"Good for her!" Toby said as he walked by, overhearing their conversation, as he normally did.

"How's her ankle? Her ribs? Did she say if she's having any lingering physical issues?" Sylvester asked, concerned. Although Leah had been mostly healed when she went off to training, she was still nursing a few injuries, but they weren't bothering her anymore.

Cabe shook his head. "She didn't mention anything, but I promise to ask tonight. Although you can call and ask her yourself, Sly."

"I would appreciate it. Her lingering pain in the ankle was of a concern to me. She should have taken more time off," Sylvester said as he headed to his desk.

Cabe still couldn't quite believe how quickly Sylvester had taken to Leah. Part of it was their mutual love for Super Fun Guy, but there was something else that Cabe seemed to be missing. He couldn't complain though. The more Leah got along with Scorpion, the better and easier it would be for Cabe.

"Well, I for one feel safer already," Walter said sarcastically, typing away at his computer.

Paige turned to make a face at him. "Don't be rude, Walt. Leah's trying to do what's right."

"She could have done so from prison," Walter muttered.

Cabe shook his head and chose not to respond. He had to respect Walter's feelings on the matter, he just wished Walter could do the same for him.

"So what's in the package?" Paige asked, turning back to Cabe. She shot Cabe an apologetic look, but he just smiled sadly at her.

He shrugged and after setting down the card, picked up the small box. He pulled up the top and if it was possible, he smiled even bigger.

"The Complete Works of John Wayne," he said out loud.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Paige said, walked around the table to rub Cabe's arm. Paige leaned in. "Go have a great night, Cabe. Ignore Walter," she said quietly, adding a kiss to his cheek.

"You guys have a good night. I'll see you in the morning," Cabe said, grabbing the card and heading for the door.

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do!" Toby yelled out teasingly.

Cabe headed home, took a shower, and dressed for his first date in quite a while. It was hard to find the time to date and then finding a woman to date was even harder. A lot of women liked the idea of dating someone in the government, but didn't actually want the work that went with it. And he didn't blame them.

As he drove towards Leah's apartment, Cabe found he was getting increasingly nervous. He had no reason to be nervous. They had now known each other for five months. He visited her in the hospital, helped her through her physical therapy, and had gotten to know her quite well. Was it really that much more to be officially dating?

Maybe it was the idea of kissing her? Holding her? It _had_ been a while for him.

He tried not to think about it. First things first.

Cabe pulled up to her apartment building and got out of his car. Nodding to the doorman, Cabe headed into the building and took the elevator to Leah's floor. He took a moment to compose himself before knocking on her door.

As he waited for her to open her door, Cabe wondered if he should kiss her on the cheek when he saw her. Or maybe just hug her? Stand there? Shake her hand? He was out of practice. And considering how close they had grown over the months, he wasn't sure of protocol in this situation.

As the door swung open and Leah stood in front of him, Cabe felt the air rush from his lungs.

 _She. Was. Beautiful._

Standing in front of him in a sleeveless dark blue dress that had a low dip over her chest and came down to her knees, her toned arms flexed as she held the door open. Her feet were still bare, as apparently Cabe had arrived before Leah had a chance to put her shoes on. Her long brunette hair was pulled up. Unafraid of showing off her scars, the bullet wound on her throat was there for everyone to see.

Cabe swallowed hard, his mouth going dry.

He was no longer sure he could make it through dinner.

"Hello, Agent Gallo," she said, staring at him with a bemused expression.

"Hello, Agent Hudson," he replied, smiling widely at her.

"It's cool, right?" she joked, moving to let him in the apartment.

"I knew you could do it," he said.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Hardest part is following orders, I suppose. No, I take that back, hardest part is the stupid paperwork. Ugh," she said, shaking her head.

Cabe could only laugh at her. He was sure there was little paperwork involved with assassins working with the mob.

"Let me get my shoes and then I'll be ready," Leah said, walking past him and into her bedroom.

He waited patiently in the living room, trying to catch his breath. Why was he so nervous? It wasn't like he hadn't been on a date before and it wasn't like he hadn't been on a date with a beautiful woman before.

Cabe shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Alright, Cabe, let's go," Leah said a minute later, emerging from her bedroom in high heels to match her dress.

He nodded silently, his tongue too heavy in his mouth to form words.

The restaurant was fairly busy. It was a little bit more upscale, but still within Cabe's financial reach. Taking their seats, they ordered drinks.

"I'm impressed, Cabe. I didn't see you as a fancy restaurant kind of guy," Leah remarked.

"I'm trying to make a good impression on our first date."

Leah smiled sweetly at him. "You made a good impression the moment you came to find me in the warehouse. There was little you could do after that to convince me you weren't a wonderful guy."

Cabe felt his face grow red. He smiled at Leah. How was she so amazing?

"But seriously, Cabe, I'm lucky you even gave me a chance."

"Leah, come on. We've talked about this. I understand what your previous job was and I don't approve, but I can't ignore the fact you chose to save my life and put yours at risk. Even if it all was a ruse just to set you up. As long as you aren't that person anymore, then I don't care."

Leah stared at him for a moment and then smiled. "I'm a law abiding citizen, Cabe. Cross my heart," she said as she made a cross sign over her heart. "Although I really do hate the paperwork."

Cabe chuckled. He couldn't disagree with that.

"How do the kids feel about it?" he asked, looking over the menu.

"Both happy they can finally tell people what their mom does for a living," she joked. "But seriously, they're happy. I'm trying to convince them to come visit during Spring Break, but, as ever, Oliver wants to do his thing. So hopefully he'll come down sometime in the summer."

Cabe tried not to feel a pang in his heart, but it was hard. He was jealous. Although not biologically hers, Leah still had two children. Two children she loved and spoiled. She had lived simply on her assassin paycheck, choosing to make sure the twins were never without.

She was lucky to raise them, albeit sometimes from a distance.

He missed his daughter.

Mentally shaking his head, Cabe pushed it from his thoughts. This was not the time. Right now, it was about Leah and this date.

The dinner went well and they probably stayed longer then they should have. After a good two hours, the waiting was eyeing them up. So they paid their bill, left a generous tip, and headed home.

As he had before the date began, the closer he got to Leah's apartment, the more nervous he got. Should he kiss her? Go inside? How was this going to go?

"Do you have any idea of what they're going to have you do this week?" Cabe asked, trying to ignore the growing knot in his stomach.

"I assume I'll just hang out in my cubicle for a while until they decide I'm safe to send out. There still is that looming Irish problem, ya know," she answered."

"Well, Sean and Andy are in prison, so hopefully that'll help. I suppose only time will tell." Cabe had been thrilled when the FBI arrested the top men in the Irish Mafia in New York, but there was still the chance of someone else coming after her. They might be in prison, but they still had plenty of Irish out there willing to do their dirty work.

"They technically can't prove it was me, so there's that. But still. I'm sort of looking forward to my cubicle. It'll be nicer than stalking victims," Leah joked. "I never had a desk, even when I was a cop. This'll be nice."

Part of the reason Cabe had gone to the hospital every day to see her was to make sure the Irish hadn't sent anyone else after her. He was worried about her. Sometimes, he felt like every day she was still here was a blessing.

Cabe pulled his SUV into the parking lot at Leah's apartment building again and parked. He escorted her up to her apartment, his hands growing clammy. He was a 58-year-old man and he was actually nervous at kissing her goodnight. Or whatever would come.

The walk up to her apartment was relatively quiet. He glanced over at Leah a couple of times to gauge how she was feeling. She looked calm. Maybe she wasn't as churned up inside as Cabe was. There _was_ a 13-year difference between the two, after all, even if Leah didn't look to be almost 46.

Maybe she was more used to first dates.

Before he knew it, Leah was unlocking her door. She stepped inside and peered back at Cabe.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked, almost uncertainly.

Cabe gave her a small smile. "I'd love to," he said, hoping his voice sounded stronger and more certain than he felt. _Don't be nervous,_ he chanted to himself as he entered her apartment again tonight. As she stepped away from him, back to him, Cabe closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. Was he sweating? He opened he wasn't sweating.

Leah took her coat off and set it on the back of her couch and turned to face Cabe. She watched him for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Are you-are you nervous, Cabe?" she asked.

He shrugged sheepishly. "It's been a while since my last date, Leah," he answered honestly.

Leah almost cooed at him. "That's really cute, but you shouldn't be nervous, Cabe. We've known each other for five months now. I took a bullet for you. What's there to be nervous about?"

"Well, you know, we've spent time with each other but there's still things…," he trailed off.

Stepping up to him, Leah stood just a foot from him, looking up into his eyes. She placed a hand on the center of his chest. "You're nervous because we haven't kissed yet?"

He tried not to blush.

"You're adorable!" she gushed before pressing herself flush against him. "Now kiss me."

Cabe didn't need to be told twice. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. He could just taste the chocolate from her dessert on her lips.

After a minute, Cabe pulled away just enough to catch his breath. "Congratulations, Agent Hudson."

"I hope my gift is more than just a kiss," she teased with a little chuckle.

" _Much_ more."


End file.
